November New Releases

The usual autumn glut of big-name releases continues. In particular, I'm quite excited about Robbie Williams' new album, which I hope will be excellent. I'm also hopeful that Leona Lewis, like Kelly Clarkson, will really shine on her second outing. Rihanna's promised a racy fourth album. And then there's Glee...swoon. What a month!

Highlights

Robbie Williams - Reality Killed the Video Star (Nov. 9). Robbie Williams returns after a 3-year absence with his 8th studio album. It's produced by Trevor Horn, formerly of the Bubbles (from whom the title comes, a reference to their MTV classic "Video Killed the Radio Star"), who also produced the last Pet Shop Boys album (and the Pet Shop Boys in turn appeared on Robbie's last album Rudebox--see the connections?). Back in the mix this time as songwriter is Guy Chambers, the longtime Williams collaborator who did not appear on Rudebox or Intensive Care. First single "Bodies" is already an international smash.

Rihanna - Rated R (Nov. 23). Rihanna returns with her fourth studio album, following up the massively successful Good Girl Gone Bad that produced three US #1 hits and four other top 40 singles. Dark first single "Russian Roulette" is co-written with Ne-Yo, whose said the album overall is edgier than her previous work. Justin Timberlake, The Dream, and Tricky Stewart also collaborated with the Barbadian singer.

Leona Lewis - Echo (Nov. 16). The 2006 X Factor winner, who became the first British reality-TV-launched artist to crack the US (as well as the rest of the world) with massive hit "Bleeding Love," returns with her second album. Expect more finely crafted pop from all the industry's biggest craftsmen--Simon Cowell, Clive Davis, Ryan Tedder, Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, Xenomania, Etc. First single "Happy" was released in the US weeks ago.

Glee: The Music Volume (Nov. 3). Anybody who loves pop music, musicals, high school romance, teacher feuds, and is gay (or has plenty of gay friends) should be watching Glee. It's fall's best new show. I'm absolutely infatuated with this show (and the hot teacher, played by Matthew Morrison). The hit mash-ups are missing, but all the show's other major musical moments are here, such as the pilot's "Don't Stop Believin," and memorable fall moments like "Somebody to Love," "No Air," "Gold Digger," "Keep Holding On" and "Bust a Move."

Norah Jones - The Fall (Nov. 17). For her fourth album, Norah Jones has reportedly taken a new direction. How far she'll stray from her winning formula of jazz-influenced pop/folk is anybody's guess. First single "Chasing Pirates" has a bit of an '80s feel to it I think. However she swings it, Grammy nominations will undoubtedly follow next year.

John Mayer - Battle Studies (Nov. 17). Yet another Grammy favorite releases his fourth album. Mayer's last album, Continuum, was a contender for Album of the Year, so expectations are high for Battle Studies, which the singer has said will take a new direction (see a trend?). The album's first single, "Who Says" is off to a good start at iTunes.

Carrie Underwood - Play On (Nov. 2/3). The former American Idol turned major country star releases her third album featuring first single "Cowboy Casanova." Most of the album is produced by Mark Bright, with one track from Swedish pop producer extraordinaire Max Martin. Pop songwriters Kara DioGuardi and Chantal Kreviazuk also lend a hand.

Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment (Nov. 24). Last season's American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert is expected to release his debut this month. Lambert's latest single, "Time for Miracles," will reportedly not appear on the album (its from the dreadful looking film 2012). Given the relative mystery and lack of first single, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets pushed back to next year (despite certain record company pressure to get this in stores for the holidays).

Other releases

Nov. 2/3

Amerie - In Love & War. The R&B singer puts out her fourth album.

Weezer - Raditude. Weezer's not very hot at the moment, but they have a new album.

Nov. 9/10

JLS - JLS. The X Factor contestants release their debut album featuring #1 hit "Beat Again" and new single "Everybody in Love."

Britney Spears - The Singles Collection. Britney Spears releases a career-spanning greatest hits collection, featuring all her major hits plus new single "3," which recently topped the US singles chart.

Snow Patrol - Up to Now. Snow Patrol releases its greatest hits, featuring new single "Just Say Yes" plus hits like "Chasing Cars," "Run," and "Take Back the City."

Bon Jovi - The Circle. The famous '80s "hair" band releases its 11th album.

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions. Scottish band releases its fifth album.


Nov. 16/17

Janet Jackson - Number Ones/The Best. Janet Jackson releases a 2-CD career-spanning greatest collection, uniting her singles under A&M, Virgin and Island Records. Includes 33 hits plus new single "Make Me."

Will Young - The Hits. Will Young collects his 12 biggest hits plus two new songs including current single "Hopes and Fears."

Kris Allen - Kris Allen. This year's American Idol winner releases his debut album featuring first single "Live Like We're Dying," not to be confused with Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying."

Stereophonics - Keep Calm and Carry On. British rock band known for hits like "Dakota" and "Handbags and Gladrags" releases their 7th studio album. First single is "Innocent."

Nov. 23/24

Timbaland - Shock Value 2. This was slated for release months ago, then it vanished, and now it's back on the docket. Expect a similar slate of high-profile guests such as Justin Timberlake (of course), Katy Perry, Lady GaGa, Keri Hilson, Chris Brown, T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott, Drake, and Brandy.

Sugababes - Sweet 7. The decade's ruling girlgroup (well, tied with Girls Aloud in any case) releases their 7th album. Not bad for a pop act whose first album scored only one top 10 hit. The hits don't seem to be coming as easily these days--their last two albums scored only one top 10 hit each. This album was rush re-recorded to replace departing member Keisha Buchanan's vocals with those of new member Jade Ewen (except for "Get Sexy," which had already been released).

Jay Sean - All or Nothing. British R&B artists releases his third album, which is also his American debut, featuring US #1 hit "Down."

Lady GaGa - The Fame Monster. Lady GaGa re-releases her mega-successful album with new material.

Mary J. Blige - Stronger. R&B singer releases her ninth album.

50 Cent - Before I Self Destruct. It really will be a miracle of this gets releases before his career implodes. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy (note: When I started drafting this article a couple of weeks ago, the release date was Nov. 2, note the 3 week slip...already.)

Nov. 30

Westlife - Where We Are. The Irish boyband has been together 10 years now. Unlike other boybands, they've never needed a comeback, because they've never gone away. This year Westlife releases its 10th album. First single is the Daughtry remake "What About Now."

The Bravery - Stir the Blood. New York band releases its third album.

Album Review: Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns (3/5)

Following up a highly successful album is tough. Too many times it seems artists fall prey to trying to repeat that success--delivering a follow-up that while melded in the vein of the previous album, falls well short of its grandeur.

That, in a nutshell, is my assessment of Snow Patrol's fifth album, A Hundred Million Suns. Their last, Eyes Open, was a major success, becoming the UK's biggest-selling album of 2006 and giving them the massive international hit "Chasing Cars." I thought Eyes Open was brilliant when I reviewed it 2 years ago. I noted how distinctive the songs were, a step forward from Final Straw which suffered from too much of the same thing. Now this album finds the band stalled firmly in their tracks trying too hard to remake Eyes Open.

The album begins with "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It," which opens with quietly building layers of instruments, is then punctuated by guitar and vocals for the first verse, and finally goes full tilt rock for the chorus. Snow Patrol isn't the first and certainly not the last band to open an album with something carved from U2 marble. It's a good song, but they've been here before with "You're All I Have" which was better (and rocked harder).

Piano-backed ballad "Crack the Shutters" follows. It starts quietly and then pounds those ivory chords along with strings, guitar, synths, and glockenspiel. It's all not unlike "Chasing Cars," but as uplifting as it tries to be, can't recreate that song's emotional punch. These are good songs, and if Eyes Open didn't exist, I might really like them, but I'm too distracted by what seems like an obvious attempt to repeat themselves. Then there's "Take Back the City," an upbeat track that is quite repetitive, although that works well for the band. This was the album's first single--a great choice, as it's probably the best song on the album.

After that, there's not much else on this album that really grabs me. "Lifeboats" is mellow--mostly guitar with space-like synths (outer space being a theme here). Actually, it's kind of dull to be honest. Somber "The Golden Floor" has a hand clap beat and acoustic guitars. If you feel a nap coming on, "Please Just Take These Photos from My Hands," shows up to revive you. This is another track in the stadium guitar rock vein underpinned with some '80s-style synthesizers a la The Killers. In other words, it's a lot like Eyes Open's "It's Beginning to Get Me."

Then there's "Set Down Your Glass," another weepy guitar ballad that starts with the lyric "just close your eyes." "The Planets Bend Between Us" is very mellow and plodding. "Engines" has a nice melody, but is marred by an annoyingly repetitive guitar loop with too much feedback. I've read that the band said this album would be more upbeat than their previous works, but clearly that direction was ditched in favor of even more ballads.

I wouldn't blame you for wanting to tune out at this point, but hang in there, because the end of the album is actually pretty decent. "Disaster Button" is the only saving grace of the second half of the album. Finally a rocking moment from the band! It's a got a great groove, an assertive synth bassline, layered guitars, and its short enough to not wear out its welcome. "The Lightning Strike" is the final track--a 16-minute 3-part song. First there's "What If This Storm Ends?," a dark and dramatic mix of piano, horns and percussion. It's followed by "Sunlight Through the Flags'" lighter mix of multiple pianos. The final part, uplifting "Daybreak," is an effective ending to this epic track.

To sum up, this album has a few good tracks as it opens and ends, but in general has too many dull ballads, too much repetition and too few songs of distinction. As I wrote this review I listened to snippets of Eyes Open to refresh my memory, which in general made me wish I was listening to that instead of this bland imitation. That album was more varied, rocked harder, and soared higher. It's a shame to see such a blessing turn into a curse.

Best: Take Back the City, If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It, Disaster Button, The Lightning Strike

Fall Music Preview - October

Album of the Month: Keane - Perfect Symmetry (10/13) They've been around since just 2004 and already Keane are poised to release their third album. They fell prey a bit to the dreaded sophomore slump for Under the Iron Sea--great album, but not as successful as the band's debut Hopes and Fears, the UK's second best-selling album of 2004. Known for their piano-backed guitarless pop/rock, the first singles from this album, "Spiralling" and "The Lovers Are Losing," already point to a new and exciting direction, heavy with synths and even featuring electric guitar.

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul (10/6) Oasis's career has been a bit rollercoaster. Lately its been on the up though, so I'm hopeful this, their seventh album, will be really great. Last album, Don't Believe the Truth, gave us the great singles "Lyla," "The Importance of Being Idle," and "Let There Be Love," and this new album has already produced an upbeat first single, "The Shock of the Lightning" and the dark album cut currently offered by iTunes "Falling Down."

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns (10/27) Until 2004, Snow Patrol were a little-known band. Then their third album Final Straw produced a major UK hit, "Run," and then their fourth album Eyes Open, which was the best-selling album in the UK in 2006, produced an even bigger international smash, "Chasing Cars." The album's first single, "Take Back the City," gets its UK radio premiere next week.

Kaiser Chiefs - Off with Their Heads (10/13) Another band that had a bit of a sophomore slump (although they did hit #1 with "Ruby") is back for album number three. This time they've enlisted hot retro soul producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse) to steer their sound in a new direction. First single "Never Miss a Beat" is a great start.

Pink - Funhouse (10/27) Pink is back with her fifth album. It's first single "So What" finds the singer in her usual punkish pop/rock vein, and already it's a massive hit, debuting in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Australian ARIA chart this week. Max Martin, who helmed her last album's two major hits "U + UR Hand" and "Who Knew" produces the track.

Chris Cornell - Scream (10/14) Timbaland produced--no joke. First single "Long Gone" is, as expected, a bit reminiscent of OneRepublic's "Apologize" from last year. From Nelly Furtado, to Justin Timberlake, to Madonna, Timbaland is positively the hottest producer in popular music right now, if not this whole decade. Struggling has-beens everywhere are selling their souls to have him produce their next hit, although he doesn't seem to be as good at launching new artists (see Nicole Scherzinger).

Bloc Party - Intimacy (10/27) The British indie band offers their third album. Already available as a download, the CD gets its release in late October with a few bonus tracks. First track "Mercury" sounds a lot like their previous stuff.

High School Musical 3 Soundtrack (10/20) With the Disney gang hitting the big screen for outing #3, this is sure to be one of the best-sellers of the year, considering that HSM1 was the best-selling album in the US for 2006 and HSM2 was #2 for 2007.

Sugababes - TBD (10/20) The 'babes stumbled a bit with their fifth album Change, which scored only one major hit (the #1 "About You Now") and became their first album not to have a fourth single. The jury's still out on first single "Girls," which features a lot of horns.

John Legend - Evolver (10/28) Soulful R&B singer John Legend puts out his third album. First single "Green Light" finds him teamed with Outkast's Andre 3000, exploring a more modern sound than we've heard from him before. Then there's the more traditional "If You're Out There," which he performed at the Democratic National Convention.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - TBD (10/27) Her fourth album, with songs produced by Calvin Harris (including the Cathy Dennis-penned first single "Off and On," which is on her myspace page) and Freemasons. After the underwhelming performance of her third album, Sophie needs a hit.

Peter Bjorn & John - Seaside Rock (10/6) Swedish Indie band that had a hit last year with "Young Folks" offers their fourth album.

Razorlight - TBD (10/27) Not much info on this yet, other than it's possibly coming in October.

Other:

Anastacia - Heavy Rotation (10/27)
Ludacris - Theater of the Mind (10/21)
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (10/6)
Hoobastank - Untitled (10/14)
Boyzone - Greatest Hits (10/13)
Jennifer Lopez - Greatest Hits (10/27)
Sarah McLachlan - Closer (greatest hits) (10/7)
Katie Melua - The Collection (10/27)

Snow Patrol

Billboard is reporting that Snow Patrol will release their fifth album in October, titled A Hundred Million Suns. The band is best known in the U.S. for their 2006 hit "Chasing Cars," which was also a major UK hit, along with "You're All I Have" and 2004's "Run."